The Relationship Between Students’ Malaysian Certificate of Education Forecast Results and Academic Performance in Business Studies at Pre-university

In Malaysia, many Malaysian Certificate of Education (MCE or SPM in local terms) students use their SPM forecast to choose their subject combination when they enroll at Pre-university level program in a private institution. Previous research has shown that secondary students with high levels of English proficiency and exposure to challenging Mathematics questions can improve their future performance in their subject. The purpose of this study is to establish the relationship between students’ SPM forecast results and academic performance of the same students in Business Studies at Pre-university level. A total of 97 respondents were involved in this study. The grades awarded in the SPM forecast were collected and compared with their academic performance in Pre-university Accounting or Economics or both in the first semester. The data was analyzed using Spearman’s rank-order correlation. The results indicated the following: (1) SPM forecast results for English Language, Modern and Additional Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics, History, and Moral Studies exhibited a significant positive relationship with Pre-university Accounting or Economics or both, and (2) SPM forecast results for Accounting and Foundation in Economics do not correlate with Pre-university Accounting or Economics or both. Among the 14 subjects from the SPM forecast, seven (7) revealed significant relationships with Pre-university Business subjects measured in Accounting or Economics or both.